Courtesy of The Craft and Folk Art Museum: The Craft and Folk Art Museum (CAFAM) presents a conversation with tattoo artists Jack Rudy and Freddy Negrete and photographer Edgar Hoill about the history and significance of the black and grey style of tattoo that was born in East Los Angeles on December 2nd, 2012. Freddy Negrete will also be doing a live tattoo demo before the talk…

WHO: The Craft and Folk Art Museum (CAFAM),located on Los Angeles’ historic Museum Row, is the city’s only institution exclusively dedicated to celebrating craft, design, and folk art. CAFAM’s dynamic exhibitions feature established and emerging artists whose work is rooted in both traditional and contemporary craft and design. CAFAM is a venue that makes art accessible to all audiences and serves as a forum in which art can be presented and described by the artists and communities who create it.

WHAT: Black & Grey is a style of tattoo that was born in the prisons of California, and later professionalized in East Los Angeles at the tattoo shop Goodtime Charlie’s Tattooland. In 1975, Jack Rudy and “Goodtime Charlie” Cartwright developed the single-needle technique to reinvent penitentiary-style tattoos, eventually bringing the talented young Freddy Negrete into the fold. Jack Rudy, Freddy Negrete, and Black & Grey documentarian Edgar Hoill will be speaking about the history and development of this style and its ongoing significance.

Jack Rudy has been tattooing since 1975 at his shop, Goodtime Charlie’s Tattooland. He learned to tattoo from “Goodtime Charlie” Cartwright, the previous owner of his shop. Rudy, along with Cartwright, is renowned for professionalizing the Black & Grey style of tattoo with the single-needle technique. He In 1985 the historic shop moved from east LA to their current location in Anaheim.

Freddy Negrete, one of the pioneers of the Black and Grey style, was already doing prison-style tattoos in his apartment with homemade machines before he joined Jack Rudy and Charlie Cartwright at Good Time Charlie’s Tattooland in East Los Angeles. Later, Negrete worked on film sets, creating temporary tattoos for actors performing in Blade, Batman II, and Conair, among others. Negrete returned to school during his tattoo career to earn both a B.A. and M.A. in Archaeology. He currently works at Shamrock Social Club on Sunset Boulevard.

Edgar Hoill adopted the name “OSOK” (One Shot One Kill) to reflect his passion for photography. Hoill is co-author, along with Marisa Kakoulas, of the three-volume set Black & Grey Tattoo (I, II & III),the largest tattoo book ever published. Black and Grey Tattoo explores the monochrome art form through his lens, illustrating widely diverse interpretations and craft techniques performed by fine line tattoo artists around the world. Hoill is also known for his editorial work with Lowrider Arte Magazine and for publishing the book Latino Art Collection: Tattoo-Inspired Chicano, Maya, Aztec and Mexican Styles.

Admission: $7 Non-members / Free for CAFAM Members

For current program and exhibition information call 323-937-4230 or visit www.cafam.org.

Location: 5814 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036

Admission: FREE on the first Wednesday of every month

Regularly: $7 for adults; $5 for students, seniors, and veterans; free for CAFAM members